Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.30.42

tato 'viśan vanaḿ candra

jyotsnā yāvad vibhāvyate

tamaḥ praviṣṭam ālakṣya

tato nivavṛtuḥ striyaḥ

SYNONYMS

tataḥ — then; aviśan — they entered; vanam — the forest; candra — of the moon; jyotsnā — the light; yāvat — as far; vibhāvyate — as was visible; tamaḥ — darkness; praviṣṭam — entered; ālakṣya — noticing; tataḥ — thereupon; nivavṛtuḥ — they desisted; striyaḥ — the women.

TRANSLATION

In search of Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs then entered the depths of the forest as far as the light of the moon shone. But when they found themselves engulfed in darkness, they decided to turn back.

PURPORT

The gopīs entered a part of the forest so dense that even the light of the full moon couldn't penetrate it. This scene is also described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

praviṣṭo gahanaḿ kṛṣṇaḥ

padam atra na lakṣyate

nivartadhvaḿ śaśāńkasya

naitad dīdhiti-gocaraḥ

"One gopī said, 'Kṛṣṇa has entered such a dark part of the forest that we cannot possibly see His footprints. Therefore let us turn back from this area, which even the light of the moon cannot reach.' "

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari